WD-40 and Reg Cleaning??

[Nemrod]

This is an example of why I find serious problems with scuba instruction in general.

WD40 is not OK for use in breathing equipment and aside from not wanting to breath it under pressure it will ruin componets of rubber and plastic and could you imagine putting that regulator on an O2 bottle. I use it for a starting fluid---holy cow.

N

 

[Mr.X]

Vomiting after drinking saltwater is not dangerous and saltwater is not an irritant, but a disinfectant (provided its clean!). Inhaling more or less anything is bad for you, including our polluted air..

Where did you get this information? It is grossly inaccurate.

X

 

[dl348]

It's disheartening to see an instructor do something so unsafe.

 

[Gary D.]

It's disheartening to see an instructor do something so unsafe.

Why should that surprise anyone?

At the rate they turn out instructors now days there are going to be more and more bad one’s slipping through into the mainstream.

With enough money and time an instructor is born. It doesn’t matter that they may not have enough experience to assemble their gear correctly and hold a conversation at the same time.

Gary D.

 

[ianw2]

Incidentally, from http://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov/
Stoddard solvent and other petroleum distillates (VM & P naphtha and kerosene) can cause anesthesia, slowing of reflexes, and dermatitis. Stoddard solvent may contain n-hexane with the potential to cause peripheral neuropathy. [LaDou, p. 523-4] With regard to potential liver injury, fatty infiltration may be seen after heavy exposures to petroleum distillates, but "frank necrosis is uncommon." [Haddad, L.M., Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders Co., 1990. (reference in HSDB on petroleum distillates)]

And…
Human data: It has been reported that the atmospheric concentration immediately hazardous to life is probably between 5,000 and 10,000 ppm when high temperature or other factors make these concentrations attainable and exposure to levels approaching 5,000 ppm should be avoided [Rector et al. 1966]. [Note: A concentration of 5,000 ppm is equivalent to about 29,500 mg/m3 assuming an approximate molecular weight of 144 for Stoddard solvent.]

And…
Adverse Effects
Neurotoxin CNS Solvent Syndrome
Hepatotoxin Hepatotoxin, Secondary


Am I crazy or was I taught that if I suspected that my gas supply was contaminated with hydrocarbons that I should not dive using it?

So, are those who see this as no big deal saying it’s OK to breathe, swallow residue of Stoddard Solvent? Hydrocarbon residue?
Hmmm…. Ah…. No thanks!

 

[Ben_ca]

I have used WD -40 externally on my regulators and tank valves for
30+ years. My newest regulator is 25 years old and looks almost new. I have tank valves that are 50 years old and look almost new.

And when I was a kid I used to play with mercury and lead.... wouldn't do it now though

 

[ianw2]

BTW, and MSDS is a Materiel Safety Data Sheet. It is required for ANY substance used in an industrial setting. According to OSHA guidelines, every work place with more than 50 employees must keep MSDS on file and available for review by any employee at any time.
If your company is properly compliant, you should be able to review a binder or two of MSDS. You’ll see sheets for all sorts of harmless substances as well as the really seriously dangerous and hazardous ones.
One of the pieces of data you’ll often see on an MSDS is the LD50, or "dosage at which 50% of the population of test animals is killed by the substance".
Years ago, I remember seeing the MSDS for a particular variety of food grade additive, called Cabosil, used extensively in things like ketchup. It makes the ketchup thick. The LD50 (Rat) was reported as >500g/Kg. In other words, when they shoved half as much of this stuff by weight as the rats weighed, it exploded their stomachs and killed them.
Point being that EVERY substance found in an industrial setting has an MSDS. Just because there is an MSDS does not make the substance hazardous. If sea water is used in your industrial setting, it should have an MSDS to compliant with OSHA standards..

 

[noobascooba]

not that it matters, but I think the WD stands for war department, not water displacement... cos the british military invented it to keeps killing machines shiney and mobile.

So my dad tells me anyway.

Just felt like joining in

 

[grassyknoll]

The OP seems troubling, but perhaps I am missing something, were the regs rental or individually owned? If they were rental gear then there is some latitude to be given to the "owner" to maintain as he/she sees fit. If the regs belonged to the divers then the guy should be run out of town on a rail. There is also a question of whether the regs were subsequently rinsed out leaving little to no residue. It' hard to make a real case for how negligent the guy was without knowing more.
As for the issue of ingestion, we all ingest/inhale/absorb petrochemicals every day, when you’re gassing up the car and you smell gas, that's inhalation. Even un-rinsed I doubt there would be enough residual to cause illness or injury (NOT that it would excuse his actions, the use of WD-40 on equipment without gaining consent or at least attempting to inform is wrong on an ethical level. And if there is a degradation or reactionary component with the regs then this is just double-bad on his part.
And yes, you will find an MSDS for just about everything on earth. Most face daily exposure to Dihydrogen Minoxide and yet know very little about it:

http://www.dhmo.org/

 

[ScubaTexan]

I might consider that reckless endangerment and want to press charges.

I totally agree, except I was thinking of something along the lines of Criminal Negligence. This is outrageous. You'd might as well hook your reg up to a tank of carbon monoxide, while you're at it... :shakehead